Wong Kar Wai’s films have always been set in modern times but with Ashes of Time he tackled a genre that has won me over and lost me just as easily over the years; the Asian period piece that films like Once Upon a Time in China made so popular. Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon helped to push this genre on American audiences and thus we were thrown a sleu of similar films making me very reluctant to visit Wong Kar Wai’s take on the genre. I admit I should never judge a film by it’s genre and even as I had to watch the original Ashes of Time on a nauseatingly bad DVD transfer it did little to get in the way of what amounts to a beautifully paced period piece that focuses less on the time its set in and more on the characters themselves.

 When I heard Wong Kar Wai was revisiting his masterpiece I was overjoyed that I could finally view the film in a dark theater with clear picture and sound quality. He’s shortened the experience by 7 minutes making the film that much sweeter since it leaves you longing for more. He’s created a definitive cut with some new music and title cards added to the mix. The details of his changes don’t really matter as both versions work for me in almost the same way. Wong’s great asset is the internal monologues of his characters. They meditate on life in a way that only he can get away with. While any other director would handle these self important and at times heavy handed words with too much melodrama he holds the paint brush steadily providing just the right stroke as not to saturate his films with too much pretension.

He never burdens himself with having to explain every little detail. The set up is simple; a hired hitman sets up shop in the dessert. As he meets with clients we learn they all have a sad tale to tell and thus his own story is brought to light until we get to the heart breaking conclusion. Wong deals with the convention of sword fights quite easily, he shrugs them off as dizzying displays of fast movement as if commenting on the over reliance of them in the genre. He leaves out the entertainment value in those scenes in order to reveal how banine they have become and how they do little to move story and only serve to distract from what should be the major focus; the plot.

If Ashes of Time Redux is playing near you I guarantee it has never been in more prestine condition. I’m grateful that with this release we can finally get a copy of the film on DVD (and hopefully Bluray) that can do justice to this wonderful work of art.

5/5

Unlike so many fanboys tomorrow night I had no butterflies in my stomach walking into the NY Premiere of Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. My history with the character stems mostly from catching all three films as they were endlessly repeated on HBO through out my childhood. I never took to Indy the same way I took to the Star Wars franchise so I took my seat with less than zero expectations. I never did had much affection for the character but something about this old dog showing me new tricks won me over in a big way.

It’s almost redundant to say that Spielberg brings his A game to the table since you hardly expect him to bring anything else. Yet with his recent hit or miss projects one wouldn’t be surprised if he yawned his way through Crystal Skull the same way he did when he directed the sequel to Jurassic Park, The Lost World. Instead what we get is a genuine excitement coming from in front of and behind the camera by all involved. Shia Lebeouf may seem calm and cool but you could tell that he’s as giddy as hell to be standing next to Harrison Ford. Speaking of Harrison I will say that in the first 30 minutes I was put off by some obvious “hide the face” stunt man work. There was just no way a man his age was pulling off some of those stunts. While it tries to excite the audience by showing some classic Indy moves it’s a disservice to a film that is trying to sell us on a much older Indiana Jones.

It wasn’t until about an hour into the movie that we get the first really truly exciting set piece, the jeep chase through the jungle. This is a scene that builds on itself in new and surprising ways and since it didn’t involve Indy doing anything extraordinary it felt more real to me. It also gives Mutt Williams (Shia Labeouf) a big chance to show his stuff as an action adventure sidekick. Karen Allen returns as Marion Ravenwood, a sassy and as lovely as she was in Raiders of the Lost Ark. She’s given a few good moments that put both a grin on her face and yours. Kate Blanchet phones in a rather boring clichéd villain in Irina Spalko. A Russian femme fatale who is seeking the Crystal Skull to give the Communists a new weapon in the cold war. Befitting of the battles of ideologies the power of the skull does fit into the political turmoil of the time. The score by John Williams is welcoming without any of the pandering we had felt watching Superman Returns. The music plays the same role it did in the previous films enhancing the sense of joy and excitement and isn’t abused to stir a sense of nostalgia from the audience.

Once the jeep chase revs you up the rest of the film just takes off leading to the big finale. Now this is where some are going to either love the film or hate it. I won’t give away any spoilers involving the Crystal Skulls but I will say that it really isn’t too different from the Ark of the Covenant or the Holy Grail. What we’ve got here is another ancient artifact that may or may not have mystical magic powers. The nature of this secret will be a source of controversy for many fans, as it seems to be mixing one genre inside of another. I personally felt that if you can buy God coming out of a box and killing all the Nazi’s than this really shouldn’t be too different.Kingdom of the Crystal Skull wins me over as an action adventure movie first and an Indiana Jones movie second. Breathe easy fanboys Crystal Skull was well worth the wait.

4/5

I must ask you America. What the fuck? What more did you want? Did this film seriously need singing chipmunks to get your attention? The Wachowski’s release another megaton bomb into cinemas only to receive the big fat yawn of familiies who decided that a good family film is just too much to bear. Instead you run to Cheaper by the Dozen and Surf’s Up. The dumber it looks the more you want to see it. Speed Racer is the stuff that every little boy dreams of (besides of course that cute girl next door). I practically turned into a ten year boy right there in my theater seat. Just when you think the Wachowski’s may be pandering to children with an over abundance of Spritle and Chim Chim scenes they manage to squeeze in some thrilling racing scenes  and some awesome hand to hand combat from their matrix days.

While I find myself more and more disenfranchised with Iron Man (come on those action scenes were so weak) Speed Racer only grows stronger in my mind. Its a shame you didn’t see it but don’t worry you’ll catch up with the rest of us in a few years when Speed becomes a certifide cult classic.

4/5

Iron Man should’ve had far better action. Theirs really no excuse when films like X-Men 2 and Spiderman 2 manage to have the character actors and action scenes live peacefully side-by-side. I’m not on some crusade to put down a great movie, don’t get me wrong. Iron Man is in the perfect position for a superior sequel. I just can’t get my head around this whole Iron Monger silliness that plagues the films final act. Instead I wanted to see Iron Man going around the world stopping terrorists but instead we get a great character put on his top hat, twirl his mustache, and tell Iron Man “you’ll never catch me wahaha”. A climax that has no place when you consider what the first 90 minutes was building itself upon.

Iron Man does stand tall on its strengths very much how Hugh Jackman made X-Men far better than it deserved to be. John Favreau’s direction is confident as if he’s been making big budget comic book films his entire career. Gwyneth Paltrow is surprisingly tolerable despite the stupid name of Pepper Potts. Terrence Howard is not exactly convincing me that he’s going to be cool enough to suit up as War Machine in the sequel. Something about his high pitched soft toned voice isn’t selling me on his ability to be a super hero. Jeff Bridges is almost invisible as he sports a killer beard and bald head combo giving him a striking look to go along with his well balanced performance. (Until of course the films end)

Yet when Downey is completely alone with only robots to speak with he’s just as complete as when in a room filled with other actors. I believe the one thing to take away from Iron Man is that despite the past few marvel duds (Daredevil, Ghost Rider, Fantastic Four) we can still get a glimpse of that magic that made Spiderman and X-Men so good. The comic book film genre is not necessarily headed down a path of crumminess. If The Incredible Hulk can give Marvel a two for two hit record this summer then perhaps their is more water to squeeze from the comic book film genre.

3.5/5

Quite possibly the most self satisfide panel of the day was the one for Lionsgate films adaptation of the Will Eisner classic comic; The Spirit. Directed by frank miller starring Eva Mendez, Scarlette Johansson, and Samuel L. Jackson. Throwing away the original comics bright colored 1950’s asthetic Miller paints everything black making his film almost indistinguishable from Robert Rodriguezs’ adaptation of his very own comic Sin City. Miller seemed to just copy and paste that films ideas and threw it into his own as he takes his first stab at the directing chair. While I am not completely blown away by the teaser or the look of the film I am keeping an open mind. Which I admit is rather difficult when he sits at the panel and this little group of people pat themselves on the back for an hour. I’ve never seen anyone as satisfide with himself as Miller, who should probably take a more humbled approach seeing as this is his first film and its a craft that could take years to master. Yet he spoke of it as if everyone around him is telling him its the best film ever made.

Then we saw the teaser, and the Sin City rip off was 100% confirmed. It’s Sin City but now its called The Spirit. Someone needs to tell Frank that he should get his own ideas and that just because Rodriguez was kind enough to give him a directors credit doesn’t make him a director. Perhaps from this point on they should just shut up, release the film, let the audience decide if its any good. This panel was smug and self serving and just left me with a terrible taste for Miller and those involved with the picture.

Hands down the best panel at the show was the one for Guillermo Del Toro’s latest big monster flick Hellboy II:The Golden Army. Ron Perlman, Selma Blair, Doug Jones, Mike Mignolia and Del Toro were there to talk about this unexpected sequel. No one speaks more plainly than Del Toro as he let the explatives fly showing his overwhelming excitement for the sequel to the underated Hellboy film from 2004. It brought in decent box office business but was mostly lost in the shuffle amongst more popular mainstream comic book adaptations.

This time around its his show as they revealed a brand new trailer that almost had me went my pants. Okay who am I kidding I did indeed wet my pants but with good cause. This film is going to kick so much ass you have no idea what Del Toro has in store. It’s as if somehow he was able to get the artistic freedom from Pan’s Labyrinth and apply it to his already well designed Hellboy films. For the first time we got to hear the voice behind the new character Johann Kraus; Seth McFarlane creator of Family Guy and voice of Peter Griffin. 

After the trailer the stage was filled with many of the films brilliantly designed creatures. Del Toro’s  gift is truly to find the most unexpected design concept and take it to that next level to make everything in his films feel unique and original. Compare it to the dull vampires in I am Legend or the Abomination in this years hulk and you’ll instantly notice that he’s not just thinking outside of the box he deficates on it, throws it away, and makes a weird box with eight sides and twelve corners.The films stars didn’t have too much to say as Del Toro did most of the talking. He spoke about the different approach he takes to his smaller films  as opposed to the ones financed by millions of studio dollars. The level of freedom he can afford when their aren’t studio execs nervously looking at thier bank books.

 He encouraged one ten year old to persue his dream of being a film maker and openly talked about how they hire new talent to help design for his films and take on internships for those seeking to break into the industry. Its wonderful to see someone who can find success and not forget what it was like to struggle and help those who also seek to make it as directors. Del Toro stole the show, the con, and will steal this summer with Hellboy II: The Golden Army.

Nothing too shocking came out of the Lucas Films panel. They talked a bit about the new Clone Wars movie coming this August along with the show premiering this fall but nothing new was revealed involving these projects. I must put in my two cents for this so called CG animated film as the budget and style really arent convincing me that this belongs on the big screen. Apparently they managed to get their premiere episode into movie theaters and are parading it around as a feature film of some sort. The style of the CG animation feels grosly exaggerated with characters like Dooku with faces so long they could be mistaken for horses. Anakin Skywalkers nose seems to be taking over his face. They took a seemingly cool style that worked in the 2D animated mini episodes and showed us how ugly it would look when fleshed out into three dimensions. We were treated to an unexpected apperance by the minds behind Robot Chicken; Seth Green and Matthew Senreich. They showed a deleted scene from the Robot Chicken Star Wars episode and that was all there was to it.

Warner Bros. was almost non existent at this years con but somehow they made up for a lame speed racer bit (A simple reshowing of the films trailer) by showing us the brand new trailer for this summers Batman sequel The Dark Knight. While not as impressive as the initial reveal of the Joker they now focus a little more on Harvey Dent while of course giving us a little more of Heath Ledgers already brilliant Joker. One particular scene shows Joker meeting with the big crime leaders of Gotham City. As always he makes his intentions very clear, “kill the bat”. One shot shows Harvey Dent face down in what seems like gasoline, and anyone with half a brain can see where that scene is headed. The Dark Knight is doing  a good job of teasing us while not giving away all of the money shots. Kudos to WB for throwing us one hell of a bone despite an overwhelmingly dissapointing comic con presence for its biggest summer films.

One of the most surprising presentations at the Con was Disney’s revealing look at Pixar’s latest robot sci-fi adventure Wall E. We were shown, for the first time, a brand new character name Moe. A tiny little work robot located on the ship that takes Eva away from poor little Wall E. As Wall E makes his way through the ship he leaves a trail of dirt and Moe follows behind cleaning up the mess. We were told they would inevitably become good friends throughout the film. Moe is another great addition to an already enchanted cast of charismatic robots who are almost instantly loveable.

One scene truly showed the films almost classic respect for silent film comedy as Wall E invited Eva over to his little place, where he has loaded up on various tiny human objects (much like Ariel in The Little Mermaid) and he tries to impress Eva with them. Their is little to no dialogue but Pixar has managed to convey every emotion using the design concepts behind every character. Most notably is the star himself Wall E who tells you so much with his various mannerisms despite being limited by his box-like shape. The moment he falls in love with Eva theirs no doubt in your mind as the viewer as to what is happening. Again I truly want to high light the Charlie chaplin-esque silent physical comedy that Wall E bravely puts to the forefront. Their are no zany characters or hip hop voices that you find in some of the most annoying animated film offerings as of late.

As always Pixar comes from a different place taking the classiest avenue to entertaining its audience. We must have seen five or six minutes of completed footage and as someone who isn’t instantly impressed with every Pixar offering, I believe its impossible not to fall in love with Wall E. This film is going to be extraordinary. Audiences will instantly fall in love with Wall E, Eva and Moe. If my cynical dark heart can be won over by Wall E than so can anyone’s. I can’t wait to see the entire film this summer.